Top 15 Games of 2016

In spite of all adversity, 2016 ended up being a good year for video games. Every year, I jot down a list of games I thought were really good, and most years I have to struggle to fill out a Top 10 list. 2016 was the exception. By the end of December, I had so many titles on my crumpled up piece of paper that I needed to expand my list to 15. For those that are outraged, just skip to number 10; you can just pretend it was a Top 10 list all along.

* Games I have not seen through to, at least, story completion.

15. Obduction*

Remember Myst? Remember the vastly superior Riven? Remember the forgettable Myst III? Remember purging all memory of subsequent Myst games from your brain? The reason I unsubtly bring those up is because Obduction is basically one of those point-and-click adventure games from yesteryear. It has that same feeling of being dropped in a strange new world with nothing but your wits and a mouse pointer to guide you. It is a lot of fun... for a while. I have to admit that the ye olde playstyle has not aged well, and the frustration of having to backtrack because you could not find one stupid lever you had to pull to advance has not lessened. I got pretty far into the game, and enjoyed my time doing so, but I doubt I'll ever come back and finish it off.

14. Mafia III*

I heard several complaints about Mafia III being derivative and samey, and there is some merit to that. However, there are times when that is exactly what I want. Give me a game that features the same kind of gameplay I like, while giving it a new setting and coat of paint. It is basically a Grand Theft Auto game set it in the abrasive deep south of the 1960's, and that's just fine! The Grand Theft Auto series is one of the greatest game series of all time, and playing another one of those under a different title is okay in my book, even if The Simpsons did it already.

13. Amplitude

I'm a huge fan of the original Amplitude for the Playstation 2 (in spite of the fact that my original copy was burgled about a year ago). This new game, using the same name for some reason, is more of what is expected: fun and fast-based rhythm gameplay to foot-tapping music. The only thing that kept this game from being higher on the list is the lack of well-known licensed music. Unlike its predecessor, there's no David Bowie, Herbie Hancock, or Run-DMC in this game. It's disappointing. But, hey, at least Freezepop is back!

12. Final Fantasy XV*

I played several Final Fantasy games over the years, but never cared enough for any of them to see through to completion. This one, however, (15, for those counting at home) may be the exception. Admittedly, I have not finished this one either (there's only so much time in a day), but now that the designers have ditched their lame pseudo-turn-based combat system, I might actually enjoy myself enough to see it through.

This games feels much more character-heavy, and I appreciate that. Modern Final Fantasy games have such convoluted storylines, that I have a hard time losing myself in them. By focusing more on the characters – the BFFs Noctis, Prompto, Gladiolus, and Ignis – this game might actually hold my interest long enough to slog through the long runtime.

Unlike most western RPGs, there isn't much freedom of choice in this game. That may be for the best. I know if I had too much choice, I'd probably end up: giving Noctis a comb, given Gladiolus and epic Norwegian death beard, giving Prompto a bullet in the head, and giving Ignis a ring so he'll be my guy-waifu 4ever xoxo

11. Shantae: ½-Genie Hero*

Fun fact: I helped Kickstart this game, so I got it for free! I enjoy the Shantae series and its more laid-back Metroidvania style gameplay. This game even improves upon the formula by giving a world map to jump back and forth between levels, reducing some of the frustration from the series' love of backtracking.

10. Pokémon Sun

The latest entry in the Pokémon series is a true breath of fresh air that it sorely needed. For decades now, each Pokémon game was a carbon copy of the other: defeat eight gym leaders, defeat an evil organization for some reason, defeat the Elite Four. There was some variation with new features that ranged from useless to mostly useless (e.g. growing berries, mega-evolutions, etc.), but the core formula stayed the same.

Pokémon Sun (and, presumably, Pokémon Moon) finally changed the formula. There are no more gym leaders! The player character actually has a reason for defeating the evil organization! It has an actual plot! Okay, it still has an Elite Four for some utterly contrived reason, but at least you get a sweet throne to sit in after finally kicking all of their butts! Pokémon Sun reinvigorated my interest in the series by making it feel new again, and I can only hope they continue this trend.

9. Oxenfree

Ostensibly, Oxenfree is a horror game. For me, it wasn't scary as much as it was a mind-fuck (pardon my language). A group of friends(?) get together on an old, abandoned island, and, lo and behold, spooky stuff starts happening. Unlike an average Scooby Doo episode, there is no predicting what happens next. Every playthrough is different based on choices made by you (or your character; it gets a little difficult to differentiate at times). Oxenfree is a unique experience, and I won't write another word for fear of spoiling anything. Go and play it.

8. XCOM 2

I am terrible at this game. Every mission saw me save-scumming almost every third turn. Every failure taught me a lesson, and I never made that same mistake again (instead, I made all new ones). But, gosh darn it, I was so invested in the story and my rag-tag team of rebels that I couldn't help playing it through to the end.

7. Tyranny

A lot of games pay lip service to the idea of player choice. "Your choices matter", the back-of-the-box marketing may claim. Tyranny is the first game I played that that actually felt true. You play the bad guy (though, not necessarily a bad guy). You are sent by totally-not-the-Dark-Lord-Sauron to conquer the last remaining stronghold of freedom and liberty. The choices you make to take over the lands are weighty, and there is seldom a "good" response. And each choice made weighs on future choices in a very satisfying chain of events. For example, I think I tested out of an entire chapter and boss battle by presenting a solid case in a court of law. Seriously.

6. Planet Coaster

Can I tell the world my dirty little secret? I never played a RollerCoaster Tycoon game beyond the first one. I don't know why, but I never got around to them. Thankfully, it seems like the official series went off the rails (ha!) in later installments. Planet Coaster is a RollerCoaster Tycoon game in all but name, so I figured it was as good a time as any to get back into the genre. You build and manage a theme park. That's it! Real-life hours just fly by! It's very dangerous.

5. Stellaris

It's a 4X game in space. That one sentence alone is enough to make my wallet fall open. Thankfully, Stellaris is one of the good ones.

4. Sid Meier's Civilization VI

It's a 4X game not in space. Maybe that's not enough to necessarily cause my wallet to fall open, but attaching Sid Meier's name to it certainly does. I have hundreds of hours logged in Civilization V (it's my second most played game on Steam!), and I see myself clocking even more with its sixth entry. For me, the Civilization games have always been about role-playing. I pick a civilization and try to put myself into their shoes. Can I conquer the seas as Japan? Can I blitzkrieg as a militaristic Gandhi? Can Poland into space? These are all questions I can answer!

3. Doom

Doom was a surprise. When I read reviews stating that Doom matched old-school gameplay with new-school graphics and polish, I was skeptical. It was too good to be true.

Well, it seems like someone prayed to Satan just right, because the singleplayer campaign of Doom was one of the most fun experiences I had in a shooter for a long time. The action is fast-paced, brutal, and satisfying. The soundtrack is beautiful and appropriate. The replayability is endless. I already beat all of the missions, and I still want to go back and replay them!

I haven't played the multiplayer, and, from what I read about it, I don't want to.

2. Overwatch

With Team Fortress 2 almost a decade old, and the idea of a Team Fortress 3 laughable, Blizzard decided to make their own class-based shooter. In their first new intellectual property in eons, they created an impressive game that helps melt away the hours. And that's just playing the game! Even more hours are lost while perusing the pages upon pages of high-quality Widowmaker/Tracer smut.

1. Stardew Valley

I wish I could include a Harvest Moon or Story of Seasons game on my list. I really do. But I can't. The two series, for me, have plateaued in mediocrity for the last several years. They just don't have the same spark they used to. Stardew Valley is a spiritual callback to these farming simulators and does everything right. It makes the farming more satisfying, and adds automation for late-game progression. It makes the characters and their stories deeper and more nuanced than Harvest/Seasons' twee archetypes. It makes achieving 100% completion difficult, but not impossible.

I always struggle to explain the appeal of farming games like these, but you have to trust me. Stardew Valley is deep and entertaining, and I fear it may've raised the bar impossibly high for future Harvest Moon games.

Honorable Mentions

Team Fortress 2

As much as it pains me to admit, Team Fortress 2 is dying. Recent updates have done little more than dilute the fun I had with the venerable shooter. Much of the blame for that is its attempt to compete with Overwatch. It just doesn't work. They're two different games, and they should've stayed that way. Oh well. It's still looking good for a game that's almost nine years old.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf ~Welcome amiibo~

The best Animal Crossing game got a free update that makes it even better. Now, by using amiibo cards available at many fine retailers, you can make sure your favorite villages can never, ever leave!

Farming Simulator 17

I wanted to add this game to my top list, but I had to disallow it since it's basically the same game as the version that came out in 2013.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Special Edition –

As amazing as this game is, I had to exclude it because it, technically, came out in 2011.

The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine

I was so close to adding this expansion pack to my official list. It was just that amazingly good! But, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. As much as it felt like a whole new game, it was still just an addition to a game that came out in 2015.

Disney Infinity vs. amiibo

Just in case you were wondering what to get me for my birthday...

Which are bad? Neither
Which are good? Both, but for different reasons.

Disney Infinity

Disney Infinity, the game and all its sequels, sucks. It's fun for a little while, but its novelty quickly wears off as the grind for unlockables sets in (full disclaimer: I only ever played the first game, but it had such a negative effect on me that I've avoided the others). And that's the biggest fault for these things. They only work with one game series! You can buy all the figures you want, but none of them are going to work with your copy of Disney Princess: My FairyTale Adventure. No, not even Darth Vader.

On the other hand, the figures make for great collectibles. Whether Disney, Marvel, or Star Wars, they all share the same cartoony art style. This makes putting them all on display in one place less frustrating. They all have roughly the same form factor and look like they belong together. Pretty soon they might even deserve their own Ikea Detolf.

amiibo

Nintendo's amiibo don't work with just one game; they work with tons of games. Granted, they don't consistently work with games, but you generally guess which figures can work with which games. For example, the Mario amiibo works with every game ever made, while the R.O.B. amiibo just laughs at you and flashes a middle finger on the screen when attempting to use it. The point is, you get much more mileage with amiibo than with those Disney figures.

Each amiibo is made in the style of the game it's coming from. As a result, the designs vary significantly, much to their detriment. I look at my collection of them, and feel nothing but sadness at my attempts to make them look presentable. The Ganondorf has this realistic look that clashes horribly with Pac-Man's goofy look. Meanwhile, the Animal Crossing amiibo are just sitting there smugly being about 4/5ths of the others' size, ruining any kind of symmetry I might desire. And don't get me started on Link's column of piss. That's just nasty.

Top 10 Games of 2015

10. Splatoon

My reaction when making this list and admitting that I didn't like Splatoon
as much as I thought I did.

Splatoon was extremely fun for a while, but I got bored with it. I don't regret buying it, nor the time I spent with it, but at this point I don't see myself playing it much anymore. I do admit, however, that the inklings are absolutely adorable, and I'll probably purchase any and all merchandise that bears even a passing resemblance to them.

9. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer

I know this game gets a lot of hate for basically being nothing more than a poor imitation of a normal Animal Crossing game, but I'm having a lot of fun with. I've been sitting here for several minutes trying to come up with a rational reason, yet I can't. There's no scoring. There're no achievements. There's no real goal, per se. All that it has is a strangely cathartic interiour design element where you design the homes you want to see.

8. Super Mario Maker

Pipes. I love pipes. I must've created about six decent levels based entirely around pipes. I don't know why. They just seem to make sense to me structurally. Anyway, where was I going with this? I dunno. Super Mario Maker is a lot of fun, even if other users don't use nearly enough pipes in their levels to be any good.

7. Big Pharma

I was pleasantly surprised by this little, indie puzzle game. All you do is build conveyor belts and make money selling drugs! Okay, sure, there are other things, but that's all that matters.

6. Story of Seasons

I always have a hard time when trying to describe this game. I keep starting with something along the lines of "it's a Harvest Moon game...", and then I trail off. That opening is both true and false, and that brings my brain to a screeching halt. It's a great game and all, but I don't know what to do without the Harvest Moon moniker these games used to carry.

5. Just Cause 3

This game does not mess around. It gives you a huge open world. It gives you a means of traversing the world in a quick and satisfying way. It gives you the means (several, in fact) of interacting with (i.e. destroying) that huge world. Why, just last night I had a right ol' good time destroying a huge open-pit mining facility. It was glorious.

4. Assassin's Creed: Syndicate

Probably the prettiest game on the list, Syndicate does an amazing job of rendering the shit-covered streets of Victorian London. It also marked itself as one of the good Assassin's Creed games by remembering that the plot in these games is always rubbish and fills in that gap with interesting, unique characters.

3. Fallout 4

I never really got into the Fallout series. I tried playing the classics, and even tried New Vegas, but none of them really clicked for me. That changed with Fallout 4. I blame the romance mechanic entirely. I'm such a sucker for those things.

2. The Witcher 3

Speaking of game series I never really liked, I could never lose myself in the first Witcher game. No amount of sexy romance collectible cards could fix extremely boring gameplay. Fortunately, The Witcher 3 was fun to play and explore. I frequently had no idea what was going on, plot-wise. But, I eventually pieced together a few salient points. Specifically, I need to rescue pseudo-daughter Ciri, Yennefer is completely unlikable, and Triss is, like, way hot.

1. Cities: Skylines

At last, the horrible drought is over! We have an actual successor to the godlike SimCity 4! Long may it reign!

Honourable Mentions:

Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain

Fun for a while, but a single, grating escort mission basically ruined the game for me. I haven't played it since.

Galactic Civilization 3

A dangerous game for the time-constrained, but it was so similar to its predecessor that I had a hard time losing myself in it.

Pillars of Eternity

A fun CRPG with interesting characters, but my overall distaste for CRPGs eventually won out, and I abandoned it.

Team Fortress 2

Sigh, once again, I have to acknowledge that, in spite of the hours I've poured into this game over the past year, it still came out all the way back in 2008.

2015 Reading Challenge Results

See? I was keeping track!

Well, I couldn't mark all of the boxes on POPSUGAR's reading challenge for last year, but I did the best I could. Without further ado, here are the results!

Total Books Read: 24

Total Pages Read: 7,922

Total Books Read For Challenge: 18

Boxes Checked 29 / 50 (58%)

Challenge Books

The Agony and the Ecstasy – Irving Stone (good)

• A book with more than 500 pages (776 pages)
• A book set in a different country (Italy)
• A book based on a true story (Michelangelo’s Life)
• A book with antonyms in the title
• A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit (Italy)

Dave Barry Turns 50 – Dave Barry (very good)

• A book with a number in the title
• A funny book
• A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet

Seventh Son – Orson Scott Card (good)

• A book that came out the year you were born (1987)
• A book with magic

Captive Paradise – James L. Haley (okay)

• A nonfiction book
• A book by an author you've never read before

Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov (good)

• A banned book
• A book you started but never finished

Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton (very good)

• A classic romance
• A book by a female author

The Martian – Andy Weir (very good)

• A book that became a movie
• A mystery or thriller

Live Right and Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster) – Dave Barry (very good)

• A book published this year

Pepper – Marjorie Shaffer (okay)

• A book with a one-word title

The Metamorphosis and Other Stories – Franz Kafka (okay)

• A book of short stories

Spam Nation – Brian Krebs (good)

• A popular author's first book

The Billion Dollar Spy – David E. Hoffman (very good)

• A book a friend recommended

The Emperor of All Maladies – Siddhartha Mukherjee (bad)

• A Pulitzer Prize-winning book (2011, general non-fiction)

So, Anyway... - John Cleese (good)

• A memoir

Behold the Man – Michael Moorcock (very good)

• A book you can finish in a day

Anya's Ghost – Vera Brosgol (okay)

• A graphic novel

4000 Years of Uppity Women – Vicki León (bad)

• A book you own but have never read

Ada's Algorithm – James Essinger (very bad)

• A book written by an author with your same initials (JE)

Non-Challenge Books

These are books I just read for fun, and have nothing to do with the reading challenge.

I, Claudius – Robert Graves (good)

The Orchardist – Amanda Coplin (very good)

Undeniable – Bill Nye (good)

Muhammad – Karen Armstrong (good)

God's Problem – Bart D. Ehrman (bad)

Physics for the Rest of Us – Roger S. Jones (okay)

My Top 15 Books

In alphabetical order, one entry per author. I tried to rank them, but found it too difficult.

The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton

I originally picked this book up on a whim to fulfill the "classic romance" checkbox on the 2015 reading challenge. I expected another boring, Jane Eyre-like romance that would be a slog to get through. I was wrong. What I got was a roiling romance that, surprisingly, ended unhappily. Or maybe it did have a happy ending. The main character was given two alternatives: stability or excitement (I'm reducing to the extreme here). The conclusion impressed me so much that it gave the book a place on my list.

Alamut – Vladimir Bartol

If I was forced to rank this list, Alamut would appear darn near the top. It gives a somewhat fictionalized portrayal of the birth of the assassin order in what is now Iran. More broadly, it gives a view into how faith can be weaponized. To vastly oversimplify the plot, the leader of Alamut has deceived a large group of religious devotees into believing he has the God-given powers to allow followers to ascend directly into heaven upon death in the line of duty. In doing so, he creates a fearless set of soldiers that will willingly sacrifice themselves to accomplish his goals.

Behold The Man – Michael Moorcock

This is a short book. I was able to read it in a day. Nevertheless, it was interesting. It's about a time traveler with some serious mental troubles who decided to try and find the historical Jesus. The machine breaks upon arrival, and what follows is his journey of discovery and eventual realization of what he must do. I'm a sucker for these kinds of time travel stories, and this was one of the good ones.

The Billion Dollar Spy – David E. Hoffman

A coworker and I have a certain understanding: we have very different tastes, so we "recommend" books we dislike to each other. This book was the one exception to that rule. We both ended up liking it. It was weird. Anyway, the book tells the tale of Adolf Tolkachev, a spy working against the Soviets during the Cold War. It was a very impressive overview of espionage tradecraft and the hoops agents have to jump through to give information.

The Birth of Satan – TJ Wray and Gregory Mobley

I picked up this book after watching the 43alley YouTube video about the subject, and I have to say this is one of my favourite books concerning religious history. It chronicles the concept of Satan from its original, generic Jewish roots through to the proper-noun personification of evil that currently exists in the minds of many. It's an amazing insight into how something as stubborn as religious thought can change over time.

The Crusades Through Arab Eyes – Amin Maalouf

This one gives a fascinating view into how Euro-centric a lot of literature about the Crusades is presented. I always understood it as: four major crusades (of varying levels of success), three lesser crusades no one cares about, and that's about it. Instead, the view is flipped around as a more-or-less constant barbaric invasion force that takes a backseat compared to the rising threat from the east.

Dave Barry's Money Secrets – Dave Barry

Dave Barry is my favourite author, and if I didn't limit this list to one book per author, it'd be dominated by his literary masterpieces. He is the only author that can consistently make me laugh out loud with his writing. This one is probably my favourite, but it's so darn hard to choose!

The Great Theft – Khaled Abou El Fadl

If I had to recommend an introduction to Islam for someone, I'd offer this book above any other generic "Introduction To" books. The first half gives an overview of the religion in an approachable way, while the back half explains, from the author's point of view, the modern rise of extremism. It blows away all manners of stereotypes and assumptions, and reminds everyone that people are people.

How To Lie With Statistics – Darrell Huff

Do you ever feel like the news and politicians are lying to you? You're probably right. And this book goes over exactly how they do it. For a book written well over 50 years ago, it's still just as relevant today. It certainly made me pay way more attention to graphs and charts than I normally would've.

Jesus, Interrupted – Bart Ehrman

The Bible is not the wholesome, consistent book folks like to think it is. Jesus, Interrupted goes over several of the glaring inconsistencies in the New Testament stories that can only come from reading them critically. Mind, the author isn't trying to disprove God, or force atheism down anyone's throat. He's just writing about them, and leaving everything else as an exercise for the reader. I've read several of Ehrman's books, but this one is definitely my favourite of the lot.

The Jungle – Upton Sinclair

Even if the story is heavy-handed, this book did much to convince me that my left-leaning political outlook is probably for the best. It regularly comes to mind whenever I hear people saying that the free market will solve everyone's problems.

Jurassic Park – Michael Crichton

For the longest time, Michael Crichton was my favourite author (Dave Barry has since supplanted him). His thriller novels, while completely silly, sound just scientific enough that you suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride. Jurassic Park (now a major motion picture from Universal!) is the best example of this. I mean, a theme park with cloned dinosaurs sounds absurd. But it gets explained well enough that you start to believe it. It's very engrossing, and that's why I love it.

The Martian – Andy Weir

I picked this book up shortly after hearing about the movie. Sure enough, it deserves all the praise it gets. It was funny, immersive, and cleverly written. I love the way it bounces between serious storytelling and light-hearted diary entries. It's like a love letter to science and wonder, and I feel like the world truly needed something like that.

The Time Traveler's Wife – Audrey Niffenegger

This is my favourite book. I know this list isn't ranked or anything, but this is The One. It has comedy, romance, suspense, time travel! It has everything going right for it. I think I may give it another read next year.

1984 – George Orwell

Do I even need to describe this one? Everyone already knows about this book. It's awesome. Look, I'm tired and don't feel like writing any more. Give me a break, here.

Otakon 2015

Dawn of the First Day - 72 Hours Remain

Stab, stab, stab

Something about this guy really bugged me

Bringing the pro-PAIN!

Are you squidding me?

The hero you want on your side when you have a body that needs to disappear

Jimbo's Anime Season - Spring 2015

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU TOO!
a.k.a. Making Anime Titles is Hard
Genre: political drama (okay, not really)

The character in the foreground is technically walking toward the side,
but it sure doesn't seem like it when this frame is taken out of context.

Okay, maybe I'm making fun of the title too much. Maybe it's because it's in English. According to Google Translate, the Japanese title is more along the lines of "Again my youth romantic comedy is wrong. Continue". Well, it doesn't really change the fact that the title is basically the genre. Oh sure, they claim it's wrong, or that situation normal is all fncked up, but if we're all honest we can admit that it's a romantic comedy anyway.

Putting aside the title, I'm liking the series. I enjoyed the first season and was surprised to see a second. Usually for these types of things they'll make one season and then abandon it. I'm glad they decided to continue this one. The characters have interesting personalities without being overwhelming. Meanwhile, the conflicts and goals between them seem deeper than the veneer of comedy lets on.

Nisekoi:
a.k.a. No More Mr. Nisekoi Colon
Genre: romcom

Thankfully, this series has no shortage of silly faces.

Again with the title shenanigans? Seriously, what does the colon even mean? Are anime series just too cool to use numbers? Or, hell, just use the same name from the first season. People will realize that it's a new season when they see it and say, "hey, new episodes!"

Anyway, this is season two, and in traditional harem-comedy style, each episode is a loosely connected crisis that seems to slightly advance the plot while, in fact, not moving anywhere. While I do find the characters fun, I am kinda hoping this will be the last season. It's good and all, but lets put this series to bed before it overstays its welcome.

My Love Story!!
a.k.a. My Love Story Exclamation Point Exclamation Point
Genre: romcom

Pop quiz: Which character do you think is the main character?

That's two exclamation points in the title. Two. You'd think this was a second season of the series. But you would be wrong. This is the first season. First world anarchists right here.

I actually started reading the manga before I even learned an anime series was coming out. Admittedly, the story is really dumb, but it's just so darn adorable. It's the aspartame of anime series. Sure, it'll probably give me cancer, but it's so delicious that I've convinced myself I'm okay with it.

Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan
a.k.a. Hey, Still Technically Better than Endless Eight
Genre: romcom

The money shot

How can you betray me like this? Yuki Nagato is my favourite anime character of all time. Of all time. She was a calm and cool badass with effective omniscience and omnipotence.

This "Yuki Nagato" is not that. Now she's just a boring, bespectacled library girl. I mean, I know the external circumstances to this scenario's existence (see The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya), but that doesn't make things any less dull. I feel like this series would've been a complete non-starter if it wasn't riding on the (admittedly flagging) popularity of the Haruhi Suzumiya franchise.

On the bright side, this series may usher in a new wave of Yuki Nagato collectibles, which I whole-heartedly endorse.